Missives in Pink
by syaoran no hime
Summary: Nejiten. The craziest things people do for love start at age seventeen.
1. Chapter 1

Once upon a time, a certain songwriter once said that when a person reaches the age of seventeen, one becomes susceptible to the irregularities of the mind, the irrationalities of the heart, and the immaturity of the convictions. In short, the person becomes a _teenager_.

Now one would think that the proud kunoichis and shinobis of the Konoha Village would be exempted from this golden adage of life. After all, at their young ages, they had managed to survive death matches, legendary sealed monsters, and the lethal tongue of -the- Orochimaru. Surely, they should be well-equipped to deal with the simple biological pre-adult changes manifested partly on their mental and emotional abilities.

But the tune rings true for two of the biggest prides among the ranks in the Leaf Village.

And their story unfolds with the arrival of a nervous-looking woman checking both sides of the hallway before inserting a pink envelope into a locker.

The woman smiled, relieved, when the letter slipped easily into the cubbyhole. She turned around to go back, only to come face to face with the most renowned weapons expert of Konoha.

Tenten looked at her with an amused smile on her somewhat grubby face, fresh from training. And then she raised her hands and saluted.

"Excuse me, mailman on duty," she said, walking over to Neji's locker and dialing his memorized-by-heart combination. Out tumbled several more folded stationeries and little envelopes, earning a gasp from the woman behind her.

The kunoichi glanced at the woman briefly, giving her a friendly smile. It was a silent assurance that it was okay and that she was going to deliver the precious correspondences to the intended receiver.

And as the astounded Neji secret admirer watched Tenten walk away with the envelopes in hand, she unknowingly added herself to the growing statistics of people wondering what the heck was the relationship between the Hyuuga genius and the lady weapons expert.

……………………………………………

**Missives in Pink**

_For AmazinGSensatiOn, who penned some of the sweetest and most inspiring notes/reviews for my stories. Thank you very much._

Warning: OOC and Extra Dose of Fluff

………………………………………………….

"New arrivals," announced Tenten to her teammate when she entered the Jounin office, bringing a pack of envelopes in various colors, sizes, and scents.

Hyuuga Neji looked up from the security reports he was reading, and then eyed what she was holding. A second later, he was back to studying his reports again.

She sighed. "Glad to see you too." She slid to her seat and opened her bottom drawer, where more packs of envelopes were found.

Through the years, she had developed the hobby of keeping all the love letters Neji received. It started since they were fifteen, when his looks and abilities were starting to get harder to ignore. Not that Neji _really_ cared to fight for his right to privacy of keeping his love letters. Between the two of them, she was the one who was more interested in those mushy love notes he received frequently.

Alas, she could very well remember the day when Neji received his first love letter…

………………………………………..

"_Tomorrow, we're going back to the mountains so I can try the full impact of the revision I made on my absolute defense technique." Neji strode on the grassland with the authority of its landowner, making Tenten suddenly think of the king of the jungle. They both share the same show of power, that's for sure._

_Out of boredom, she tried to imagine Neji as a lion walking ahead of her. A smile of amusement formed on her face when she realized that it fitted him impeccably._

"… _Hiashi-sama saw some weak points in my technique," Neji Lion was saying. "To test his inputs, I asked for a duel with Naruto…"_

_The scene unfolded in her mind: a chibi fox and a chibi lion growling at each other._

"You can't take my ramen away!" Chibi Naruto fox.

"I'm not taking anything away." Chibi Neji Lion.

"Do you like ramen?"

"…sometimes."  
"So you ARE taking my ramen away!" Chibi Naruto fox stomped his feet on the ground. "You bully! You thief! You Ramen-napper!"

The lion groaned. "I am not any of those things. But let's fight anyway."

"…_and he was able to pierce through my defense by using Kage Bunshin, and applying brute strength on me," continued Neji._

Multiple Chibi Naruto foxes leaped joyfully towards the sweatdropping Chibi Neji Lion. "Yaaaay! Group hug!"

"_So what do you think—" Neji spun around to face her and saw the strange smile that had crept up her face. "What does that smile mean?"_

"_Huh?" She quickly banished every trace of smile on her face and posed a business-like look. "What smile?" She knew Neji like the back of her hand—when he was discussing the merits and cons of his combat techniques, one was expected to listen to him like he was delivering the message of a messiah itself._

"_The one that existed on your face a second ago." Neji sighed audibly. "Never mind. Anyway, I'm going to ask Gai to give our team a day off to train in the mountains. I'm not going to indulge Lee anymore and allow Gai to come with us, since the last time he did, he brought a disco ball along and asked us to dance."_

_She snickered. "Your foxtrot was cool." She recalled Neji mechanically clapping his hands and marching on his place like a robot._

_He glared at her. This time, she kept her silence for good._

_Moments later, they were inside the Konoha office and were currently fussing with their lockers when Neji suddenly paused._

_Sensing his momentary confusion, she stopped what she was doing and peeked inside his cabinet._

_Her almond-brown eyes widened in surprise. Could it be…?_

_Neji lifted the folded letter and read the contents swiftly with his eyes. And for a moment, she thought she saw a faint scarlet on his pasty complexion._

_One breath later, he crumpled the note and threw it on the floor. In hasty motions, he closed his locker again and proceeded to walk away._

_She, on the other hand, knelt down and picked up the crumpled paper curiously. _

"_Tenten, let's go," said Neji, crossing his arms over his chest._

_Ignoring him, she smoothed the creased paper with the palm of her hands and read the note._

_Aloud._

"_My dear wonderful prince…"_

"_Tenten."_

"_I had long been watching you from afar. I watched you when you walk around the town. I watched you when you train with your team. I watched you when you…" She blinked. "Who's this, Big Brother?"_

"_TENTEN."_

_She continued to read. "I cannot fight this feeling anymore. I must tell you how much I… I…" She couldn't read the next few words out loud without bursting into laughter. Instead, she got up and faced him, smiling teasingly. "Why, Neji! It's a love letter! How—"_

"_Don't say it."_

_She grinned some more. "You're all grown up! The opposite sex is starting to get seriously interested in you."_

_He exhaled in exasperation. "Do you really need to make an issue out of this?"_

"_Hey, maybe a little dose of romance and mush will make a functional human being out of you, Hyuuga Neji," she said lightly. _

_Another sigh from him. "Define functional."_

_She didn't answer him. Instead, she read the rest of the contents silently, laughing at some parts, and looking up at the annoyed Neji time to time to wink conspiratorially._

"_Tenten," said Neji, starting to shift his weight impatiently. "We both have better things to do than read a stupid note like that."_

"_I consider this as one of the better things in my activity list," she said smilingly. "Besides, I'm done!"_

"_Good." He gestured to the door. And the gentleman that he was, he walked out of the room first._

"_Aren't you even going to keep this?" she asked, trying to keep up with his brisk pace._

"_Why should I?"_

"_A souvenir." She shrugged. "The girl must have mustered a lot of courage to write someone like you a letter of confession."_

_He smirked. "I don't tolerate sentimental trash in my locker, sorry."_

"_Then why not let _me _keep it?" she asked, a smile forming on her face._

_He stared at her, and then shook her head. "What will you do with that? It's not even for you."_

"_So?" she swept a glance at the crumpled note, and sympathy tugged at her heart strings. "It's better than making it end up as a litter on the floor."_

"_Suit yourself," said Neji, walking away already._

……………………………………………………………

"Have you eaten your breakfast?"

Neji's question brought her back to earth, "Uh… yeah," she replied, nodding with a smile.

He looked at her for a moment and then shook his head. "Liar. You went straight to the woods to train with Lee."

"Why do you sound so sure?" she demanded.

"Fetch a mirror and wash your face. You're already seventeen, Tenten. Females your age are usually conscious, if not vain, of their looks." From the corner of his eye, he saw his teammate blink. And then discreetly, she wiped the dirt on her face with the edge of her outfit's sleeve.

Typical Tenten, of course.

He got up all of a sudden, startling her. "I'm going to order my snacks." Without waiting for her reply, he left the room.

_Gee, thanks for asking. I'm quite full. _Tenten watched him go wanly, momentarily reflecting once more on how chivalrous Hyuuga Neji can make a twig seem. Afterwards, she turned her attention again to the box full of love letters.

Over the years, she had accumulated quite a collection of love notes—all addressed to Hyuuga Neji. But except for the one that he mistakenly read the first time he received such, he never cared to glance at any of them.

On the other hand, she relished reading the letters… at first. She found it a decent way to pass time whenever she was bored at home and vacated of missions. Like a critic immersing himself over a bunch of newly-found literary novelty goodies, she would scrutinize every letter's contents—trying to guess the personality of the person who wrote this, gauging the depth of the writer's infatuation with her teammate, or simply poking fun at the oozing mushiness of some letters.

But two years later in the job, she had slowly found herself disliking the thought of reading his love letters. Initially, she didn't know how that strange notion surfaced, but when the answer finally hit her, she couldn't bring herself to accept it.

For in reading these love letters, her eyes were slowly opened to the fact that her childhood friend and teammate—Hyuuga Neji—was a _man_, and a very desirable one at that.

As she read through the hundreds of reasons for liking him, she found herself agreeing with these silently; while with some, she never really noticed until she read so. Majority of those though, were things she laughed at, knowing that these people do not know Hyuuga Neji as well as she did.

She felt proud of such fact—and later, quite haughty of it.

And with that, she realized too the most unspeakable thought of all: she was, indeed, crushing on him.

…………………………………………………..

At their training just this morning (Yes, Neji was right again, as usual), she confided this to Rock Lee, Konoha's self-proclaimed assistant to the Specialist of Burning Youthful Love A.K.A. Maito Gai.

After she finished narrating her dilemma, a bewildered Lee asked quietly, "Are you sure?"

And she nodded sadly, like she just affirmed the demolition of Uzumaki Naruto's beloved Ichiraku ramen stall.

He cupped his chin, pondering on her problem. "Well, why don't you just… _tell him_?"

"And usher in the end of the world?" she asked dryly. "No thanks."

"You're exaggerating!" said Lee, patting her shoulder.

"He's going to _laugh_ at my face! What else can you call _that_?" she demanded.

He scratched his head. "Well…"

"Besides, judging from his aversion of love letters, I'd say he's not interested in anything romantic." She threw her kunai his way, and he avoided it with ease. "GRAH! I'm slowing down!"

"Nah. I'm just too quick," said Lee smilingly. "Your combat technique is fitted only for one person, and that's Neji-san."

She rolled her eyes. "Understandable. I sparred with the same person for a decade or so."

Lee stiffened, and then, suddenly, he clapped his hands excitedly. "THAT'S IT!"

She gaped at him openly.

"Neji-san had always known he has no competition when it comes to you! That's why he never thought of becoming romantic with you… he's just too secured!" assessed Lee happily.

"And that's good news?" she asked, noting the tone of his voice.

"We can do something about that." Forgetting the rest of the training entirely, he began to reveal his latest brainstorm. And in every passing minute, Tenten's face was starting to contort in dismay.

When at last he finished, she collapsed on the treetop, shoulders sagging. "Does my situation sound _that _desperate?" she asked weakly. "I mean, I can just wait for these strange feelings to pass without having to resort to _that_."

"Or, time would just make them stronger," said her teammate with prominent eyebrows. "Besides, it's a foolproof plan."

She tucked her knees underneath her chin. "Actually, I'm looking for a clan genius-proof plan."

"When it comes to Neji-san, both words become synonymous to each other," said Lee, smiling wickedly. "Trust me."

And trust him, she did.

…………………………………..

_Just watch your window and wait for my surprise._

Tenten recalled Lee's words as she stared at the window by her office table expectantly. Cupping her chin, she dully gazed at the birds walking through the copper tightropes of their resident electric company.

At that moment, the door opened, and in came Neji, balancing a tray heavy with food. He turned his eyes toward his teammate, who was pensively looking out at the window.

Now that was not an ordinary sight, especially for someone like her who finds time too precious for idle moments of daydreaming.

His gaze shifted next to the drawer box containing his love letters gathered for almost two years. A small sigh escaped his throat.

This caught the kunoichi's attention. "N-Neji?"

"Here." He delivered a big plate of sandwich in front of her, and then planted a large glass of juice beside it. "Only idiots train on empty stomachs."

"Hey, thanks," she said wryly. She hungrily took a large bite on the bread. "Mmm! Chicken!"

He went back to his place and unwrapped his own sandwich. However, he couldn't bring himself to eat—not when Tenten was acting this strange. Or that box of love letters were parked prominently on her desk.

Stealing a glance again at the cursed box again, he remembered one of his past conversations with Maito Gai while they watched Lee and Tenten spar.

………………………………………………..

"_Tenten is growing lovelier and lovelier everyday, isn't she?" Maito Gai began softly, making him turn towards the teacher._

"_A handsome flower, that's what she is," added the mentor, nodding assent to his own words a minute ago._

"_In our society, we call that 'child abuse'," he commented._

_Gai paused, and then burst out laughing. "Well, in our society, we also have a word called 'jealousy'."_

_He shrugged. "You foolishly color facts rendered in black and white. She is the closest person I could think of as a friend."_

"_Love is only a more intimate friendship," said Gai, humming teasingly._

And your death is only a more painful kick away, _he thought, turning his attention back to Tenten. But of course he did not say that aloud—he wouldn't give his teacher the satisfaction of getting his most defiant student to react to his juvenile antics._

"_Why not try asking her out on a date?" Gai asked, pretending not to sense the veins popping subtly on his head. "You know, just for fun?"_

"_I won't fall for that dare-me trick. Drop it," Neji said coolly._

_Gai did his best to look wounded, and came across looking like an orangutan. "The problem with you, Neji-kun, is that you're just too suspicious of everyone around you. Tenten can be an attractive little flower yet to bloom. Why not become her first gardener? The fire of youthful love awaits your daring and initiative! You shouldn't wait for Cupid to stick his arrow into Tenten! You must take action now!"_

_Neji shrugged, but his eyes were cast on his female teammate. "There are just things that simply can't be said and done in this world. One of these is to get intimate with the person who arranges your love letters alphabetically and file them carefully through the years. Because chances are, that person is one whose companionship you cannot afford to lose."_

………………………………………………

Tenten nibbled on her sandwich as she dared not take her eyes off the window. She knew that when Lee promised her something, he would really do it come hell or high water. Normally, that should sound good, but right now, she was silently wishing that Lee had thought twice about the plan and had wisely decided not to go with it.

_Lee can be quite sensible when he wants to. Maybe he realized it's impossible to trick Neji. Yeah, maybe he did!_

But she had barely begun convincing herself when out of nowhere, a pink balloon surfaced slowly up the window. Tied to its string was an enormous roll of pink paper.

"What on earth is that?" Neji had gotten out of his seat to get a closer look of the floating balloon. "Where did that come from?"

She stretched out her hand beyond the window and reached for the paper. All the while, she could feel Neji standing behind her, looking over her shoulders to see what the mysterious balloon contained.

"Maybe a report from the other Jounins downstairs," she said dismissively.

He gazed at her mockingly. "I for one cannot imagine why they would use balloons." His eyes swept over the cartolina, and then noticed the handwriting beneath the rubber band. "It says it's for you, Tenten," he said, pointing to her name. "And it's from…"

"… a secret admirer." Tenten rolled her eyes. _A make-believe secret admirer. Gee, Lee, you really know how to build someone's self-confidence._

…………………………………………

To be continued


	2. Chapter 2

"A secret admirer?" Neji's forehead creased. "A _secret admirer_?" It was with great difficulty that he had managed to say that phrase with Tenten in mind in one moment.

"Something to that effect," his teammate, looking unenthusiastic, said as she put away the roll of paper.

"You're not going to read what it says?" he couldn't resist asking while stealing glances at the unrevealed contents of the pink cartolina that would never see the light of the world because of Tenten's refusal to open it.

"I'll just tell that person that I'm actually illiterate."

He looked at the cleared-away paper discreetly, and then back at her. She had gone back to working on her late breakfast.

His fists clenched. Once more, he felt a kind of frustration he thought he had already left behind in his childhood days—the one wherein he was struggling between wanting to know something and at the same time, pretending that he didn't care at all.

"You know," he began smoothly, "that letter could be a prank."

She nodded nonchalantly.

"Wouldn't you want to know who's behind it?" he pressed. "We—you can detect it by studying the note."

She shrugged. "Maybe some other time."

"There is no better time than the present," he advised piously.

"You said it yourself, Neji," she said, glancing up briefly. "It may just be a prank. The person who wrote this would only be pleased if I give the letter a portion of time of my day."

"What if he turns out to be a dangerous psychopathic stalker? That message may be a warning." Neji was seriously doubting the mental stability of a person who sends love notes through pink balloons.

Tenten had to laugh. "Neji, relax. You're worrying too much—"

"I am -not- worrying."

She sweatdropped. "Fine. But take it easy. If it really is a stalker, then I can handle that on my own. I wasn't promoted to my current rank for nothing."

The Hyuuga male still looked skeptical, but when he saw that Tenten favored the remaining crumbs of her sandwich than arguing with him about the letter, he knew that verbal exchange was doomed for nowhere.

But he knew he had to do something about that roll of pink paper. Even if he did tell Tenten that he was not worried (which was definitely true, by his standards), he was… a little _concerned _about the possible impact of that paper on her well-being.

And as her teammate for several years, he knew he had the prerogative to act for the security of the kunoichi.

………………………………….

**Missives in Pink**

**Chapter 2**

_For Tanuuki and Kodoku. Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy the update, late as it may be ehehehe._

………………………………….

The clock's hour hand was on seven while the minute's hand was on eight.

_Time to go home and watch my sitcom, _thought Tenten as she stretched lazily and got up to arrange her things on the table. Beside her, Neji was hunched over, busy with his own work.

"Aren't you going home yet, Neji?" she asked, looking over his shoulders to see what had merited such devoted attention from the usually disinterested Hyuuga genius.

"Maybe later," he said noncommittally, staring harder at his work. Further scrutiny led her to discover that he was actually connecting the dots of a creature that suspiciously looked like Pikachu.

She sweatdropped. For the life of her, she would never understand why, of all the games and puzzles in the world, the most favorite of Neji happened to be the Connect the Dots challenge. She vaguely remembered that at age 5, she had rebelled against following the order of the numbers and connected Dot 2 to Dot 389, among other violations. As a result, the cat that was supposed to be the final picture came out as a jellyfish.

But then again, Hyuuga Neji was a stickler for law and order governing the wheels of life. Which definitely makes him compatible with that kind of puzzle.

"Alright," she said, straightening up. "I'm going home. Good night, Neji."

He grunted—the traditional form of a Hyuuga Neji response that covered the broad range of yes, maybe, not now, not ever, go to hell, and simply, no.

She encountered the custodian of the office on her way out. She courteously smiled at the old man, and he smiled back.

"Still the most hardworking Jounin in the office, eh?" said the janitor, smiling fondly at the female.

"Not tonight," she said good-naturedly. She gestured to the lone soul inside the office. "He's still there, mapping the chakra points of a dubious-looking character that could possibly wreak havoc on the future of the Fire Country youth."

The janitor peeked inside the room, and then turned back to her. "Ah. The Hyuuga genius." The old man smiled at her, not without palpable teasing. "Two diligent ninjas… both smart and very determined… I couldn't think of any more people who would look good together."

This she dismissed with a gentle laughter. "Don't let Neji hear that. We already get too much of that from our colleagues."

"Perhaps, they also see the things I see in you two. When I was young, my wife, then my girlfriend, called it 'sparks', 'chemistry', and 'magic'. We had it, and you seem to both have it too."

Tenten scratched her cheek. She didn't know that the old man was a hopeless romantic too. How was she supposed to react to that anyway? "Um…"

"Besides, you had grown up together, and it's likely that you will continue to do so in the coming days." The old man hugged the broomstick to his chest blissfully, making Tenten step back with a grimace on her face. "In the end, you will only have each other. Shouldn't you consider that as a divine sign from destiny that the two of you are meant to be?"

Her eyes narrowed. The Gai Mania strikes again. "I think it's more of a divine mockery of our respective wanting social options."

………………………….

_Touché. _Neji could hear the conversation going on in the doorway even from where he was seated. As his eyes searched for Dot 87, he silently deliberated on the fact that in times of peace, the lives of Jounins become harder to live. Everyone stops talking about a ninja's jutsus and combat ratings, and instead, chooses to dwell on the usual stories of sad people who used their work as an excuse to stop functioning as social animals.

They then start pairing Jounins off, as if these people were little dolls. And unfortunately, the most popular among the higher-ups of the office was him and Tenten. Maito Gai et al seemed to find it amusing to matchmake the two lone people in the office that could actually differentiate work from lounging around.

Fortunately, Tenten didn't seem to take much offense from that. With a casual shrug, she could dodge those evil jokers' teasings and gracefully shift the conversations into safer turfs. Like the right brand of corned beef. Or why blush-on could never be edible.

He smiled inwardly when he heard Tenten use the same maneuver on the swooning custodian.

"…and yes, I know it's kind of nosy for me to ask this, but really, your hair's luster is more noticeable! It's really bouncy and stuff!" Tenten was saying. "You must tell me the name of your hairdresser!"

"Really? I was thinking it's starting to get into a balder side…" But the old man sounded thrilled by the compliment. "Haha! Must be my genes!"

Neji shook his head amusedly as he connected 87 to 88. Vintage Tenten.

Minutes later, he heard footsteps marching away from the room. Slowly, he shut his book.

And just to be on the safe side, he scanned the surroundings with his Byakugan for any sign of chakra nearby.

Negative.

With that, he got up and strode towards Tenten's desk. At the very bottom of her drawer laid his objective.

Carefully, he bent down and retrieved the rolled pink cartolina. He then carried it towards his desk.

"A secret admirer… a secret admirer…" he muttered as he inspected the object. "Damn it…. This must be a hoax. A prank, maybe." Tenten plus a secret admirer was an unimaginable equation in his mind.

He understood that women like Yamanaka Ino and Haruno Sakura have admirers. Why not, they were… _girls_.

But Tenten? Tenten, his teammate and his best sparring mate in Konoha? Neji shook his head. He knew that person as completely as the edge of his favorite kunai. Unlike the other kunoichis her age, Tenten grew up immune from mush, fluff, and romance that other girls dream about. Not because she lacked feminineness—she could also be as gentle as she was prone to PMS – but because she was just too hard-set on her goals to become like her idol, Tsunade.

She also grew up in the company of men who encouraged her ambitions by not giving her preferential treatment: she ate what the men ate; experienced the same rigorous training that the men endured; and slept right beside these same men: places which were, wherever fatigue would overpower them.

These things helped mold her into what she was now-- as Gai always puts it, a wild rose. Adored for its beauty and yet respected for its pricking thorns.

Furthermore, he made sure that their female teammate would grow stronger along with him. She was a more sensible option to self-training (which offered him no credible criteria on his improvement) and a certainly more acceptable choice than sparring with Rock Lee (which would result to a battle that would outlast the boundaries of Alpha and Omega).

And so he took her with him at every possible opportunity, and he was glad to see that she appreciated that. Admittedly, he could also feel a swell of pride surge within him whenever he would see marks of progress on her combative skills. And later on, he started to see those sparring sessions as rituals. Rituals that were solely his and hers. Rituals that branded the kunoichi as his associated property in the eyes of the men who had started to notice her.

Their intimate set-up proved to work well for both of them—she was able to avoid accommodating potential suitors and admirers of both her beauty and her expertise so she could concentrate on her training, while he was able to keep his sparring mate a private asset which was solely his to enjoy.

A routine that went on for the next few years and would have continued on for the coming years without him knowing it, had this pink paper not materialized this afternoon.

He had never worried about admirers. But suddenly, here he was, holding a love letter for his teammate.

And he was not completely sure anymore of what to think or feel.

Hesitantly, he unrolled the cartolina.

……………………………………………………..

"Argh!" Tenten dashed upstairs, taking it two at a time. "Of all the things I could forget, why did it have to be THAT pink letter! Kami-sama!"

She tried to calm herself. Think rationally. Breath deeply.

_Neji won't notice it. I mean, why WOULD he? It's not like he _cares_. He must be seated serenely on his desk right now, connecting Dot 290 to Dot 290.5. _She nodded in self-affirmation. _Right. Why would a floating love letter interest him? It doesn't even have dots you can connect, unless you count the periods. And they don't even have numbers._

But still, she couldn't risk letting her other fellow Jounins see it in the morning.And what would they see—a fake love letter that the _Lee and Gai Springtime of Youthful Love Specialists ™_ penned?

Nearing the top of the stairs, she noticed that the light in the room was still on, meaning Neji was still there.

_Am I wearing my lucky ribbons today? _She wondered, hoping against hope that she did, and that Neji was still blissfully immersed in his own world of dots and lines.

She stepped inside and found Neji seated on his desk, still hunched over his work.

A relieved smile appeared on her face. Wordlessly, she approached her desk and bent down to get the cartolina.

"It's with me."  
She popped up from the floor like a jack-in-the-box, startled. "WHAT?"

"Don't look at me as if I just smashed your kitchen windows, Tenten," he said wryly. "I was only looking after your welfare."

"By snooping?" she demanded.

"Among other things," he replied calmly. "And believe me, it's a good thing that I intercepted the message. The person who wrote this… he may be a very dangerous and unstable man." He started to enumerate his findings. "He lacks principal coherence, plain sense, and basic taste. He wrote the letter using different colors of crayons. He—"  
"Neji, that is intrusion of privacy," she said in her most patient school teacher voice. "That's against the law."

He scowled. "You weren't listening. The admirer you may now have is a person greatly out of touch with reality."

She laughed uncomfortably. "Neji—"

"Read it if you doubt my judgment," he advised her, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

"I don't think—" She flinched at his pointed glare. "Alright, alright. We'll read it."

_My goddess…_

Neji pointed to the salutation. "Look. He sees you as an object of worship. That is a sign of unhealthy obsession."

She wrinkled her nose. "Figure of speech."

"Go ahead and underestimate the impact of his words," he sniffed, "but the rest of the letter should convince you later on."

She sighed, and then read again. "_My goddess…"_

"SEE?" He pounded his fist on the table. "He said it TWICE!"

"No, he didn't," she said, sweatdropping. "I just read the salutation again."

He blinked, and then grunted.

_My goddess,_

_How was your slumber? Did you call the plumber? I shall give you my number. Don't forget to remember._

Neji looked at her pointedly. "Don't tell me that a person who is clinically-sane can write such gibberish."

She scratched her cheek. "Maybe he's just a bad poet with a penchant for rhymes. Maybe it's a limerick."

_Anyway, enough about your sleep. Let me now ask about your day. How is the sun? Was it shining hot enough for you? Do you want it to snow? I want it to snow too. But if it snows, the sun will not come out and shine on your ethereal loveliness. Ah, why can't it snow on summer? Why can't summer snow? The mysteries of life can only stand explained when you grace this green earth with your smile. Or is the earth blue? Orange? Dark orange?_

"Stop defending that psycho admirer of yours, Tenten." Neji's teeth were already gritted.

"So he's also a bad scientist," she said, looking up briefly from the cartolina before squinting on the rainbow-colored text again.

_If you only know how much I worship the ground you walk on. I even built altars and temples on almost all the spaces that you had walked on. So if ever you find yourself stumbling on a piece of concrete block with your name, you'll know it's your place. Your haven. Your own Mount Olympus, my darling goddess._

"And now, he's littering the road with dangerous concrete blocks that bear your name," Neji snapped.

"Okaaay, so he's not much of an environmentalist either," she said, sighing.

_I so love your hair. But mine's more beautiful and shinier. You should try my conditioner. It'll do WONDERS for you, and will bring out the hidden elegance of your tresses._

_And when you laugh… I love the way you open your mouth. Not too wide and not too closed… just right._

Tenten grimaced. Trust Gai-sensei's flowery words to turn freaky on overdose.

_I love your ears. I don't know why, I just do. Your ears are like petals of tulips because… I don't know why, either._

_But what I love most is your eyes. No other woman holds the same smoldering sensuality that your eyes could arrogantly flaunt when you're asleep._

Neji tapped his fingers on the table as her grimace grew more and more evident at every passing minute.

_Alas, I could not tell you this in person. Not when you are surrounded by that fire-eating…er, fire-breathing dragon that is Hyuuga Neji. He's going to eat me for lunch, and my leftovers for dinner. I know I must be brave and face him, but one principle stops me… one which I would painfully put over my powerful desire to be with you._

_The principle of First Come, First Serve._

Tenten's frown deepened. _What is Lee saying?_

_I will not touch the things owned by someone else. In your case, that Hyuuga Neji may be a dragon, but what if he's only your knight in disguise to protect you from other men?_

_But until such time that Hyuuga Neji has cleared his intentions about you, I will not rest. _

_Well, from 1am to 5am, I would, but just to sleep. But the rest of the time, I shall only watch and wait for my turn._

_Until then, my goddess. Sleep tight with the knowledge that you are loved._

_Signed, Boy George_

She closed the paper and met Neji's inquiring gaze. "I was touched."  
His eyes narrowed. "Your comicalness is most repulsive sometimes, Tenten."

"Well, this _is _my first love letter," she said, smiling timidly. "I mean, I had never really thought of myself as desirable among a fraction of the male species."

He gaped at her as if she just said that she eats light bulbs for lunch. Was she that unaffected that she wasn't aware of her own loveliness? Sure, it was toned down and stripped off of the sophistication often associated with women like Sakura or Ino.

But she was a rough gem that could proudly compete with the glitters of other more refined jewels. She had a richer earthly quality of beauty—one that dirt and wear could not erode.

And for all her worth, to call her 'desirable' would be a personal insult. At least for him, who had safeguarded the coarse precious stone for practically his whole lifetime.

"What's with that look, Neji?" Tenten asked uncertainly when she noticed his wordless stare at her.

He paused, and then looked away. "I'll get to the bottom of this mystery admirer. Damn, I'll wring that guy's neck—"

"What? You think it's insane that a male human being can actually like me?" she said, arching her eyebrow. "Neji, you wound my ego."

"It's not _that_." The Hyuuga exhaled sharply. "It's just as simple as…"

_As simple as what? My intention to protect you from a moronic suitor? My anger at him for appearing out of nowhere and ruining the perfect setup that we have on the pre-pink balloon days? My annoyance for the provocation of all those absurd feelings for you which I thought I had already locked up and left years ago?_

"Well?" Tenten looked at him expectantly.

He brushed his hair back with his fingers. "It's just as simple as you being off-limits."  
"Off-limits?" she echoed incredulously. "Since when?"

Words were frantically slipping from his mind. Kami-sama help him regain his IQ. "Ever since we promised to help you become what you want to be. Anything else outside training would be only a distraction."

"But off-limits…" Tenten shook her head in disbelief. "Neji, you're taking it too seriously. I really appreciate the concern but—"

He groaned. "KAMI-SAMA!"

She jumped back, startled.

He massaged his aching temples, frustrated. "If I only knew that a love letter could disturb you this much, I should have written one earlier. Then at least I'm sure you won't date a psycho that is also a bad poet among other things."

She sweatdropped. "Neji…"

"What?" he spat out. "Can't a guy be allowed to sulk in peace here?"

Gracefully, she sat down beside him, smiling weakly. "I know you genuinely care for my welfare. But really, you don't have to give that much fuss about a letter. I was just teasing you, Neji."

He stiffened.

"Lee and Gai-sensei wrote it."

Neji straightened. "They're Boy George?"

"Um…"

His face darkened. "And why exactly did that letter materialize?"

She shifted her weight from one foot to another. "B-Because… because…" Tapping her fingers on her knees, she searched for the best way to say it. "You see… I had never received a single love letter in my whole life—"  
"And so you asked those two to write you one?" he interrupted, eyeing her as if she just rented the Springtime of Youthful Love Specialists ™ to write _Romeo and Juliet in Wonderland Part I_.

"It's your fault!" she retorted. "I should have been receiving love letters too if not for you. All the men I know think I'm… er….your…" Her cheeks flared. "The point is, you made me run out of social choices. I didn't even have a chance to enjoy those sappy lovey-dovey stuff—"

"I saved you from diversions that may impede your ambition's path," he replied calmly.

"Well, in turn, you started me pondering about that very experience you shielded me from until such time that I found myself wondering if I missed something great in my life by not getting a taste of mush." Tenten glared at him pointedly. "Later on, it made me see only ONE person and that certain person hoarded all my girlish romantic fantasies until such time that it affected my behavior, my attitude, and my whole system. I researched extensively for the term to attach to that situation. All answers pointed to one word—infatuation."

"But that one person I believe I am seriously infatuated with is too dense to sense my problem. So I asked for Lee's help, and he came up with the love letter idea," she explained. "Lee said that person thinks he has no competition when it comes to my attention so he came up with that letter to try to make the person jealous."

Neji digested everything she said carefully. "Let's see… you're curious about romance… and then thinking about that made you realize you have a crush on someone. However, that person doesn't know about your feelings so you asked for Lee's help and the pink love letter was born. If ever that person sees it, his reaction might help you gauge what he feels for you."

"Correct."  
"You know," Neji said slowly. "The situation sounds… familiar…"

She rolled her eyes at that.

"It's my fault that you never got to know another guy intimately, except for Lee and Gai. However, they were the ones who helped you with the letter, so that couldn't be possible." He cupped his chin. "You never knew any other guy aside from us… so the person you noticed…" His mouth was forming the answer, and yet uncertainty flickered in his eyes.

"Duh," she said, sighing.

At that moment, lights flooded the room and confetti showered them from the exhaust system on the ceiling. The custodian skipped into the room happily. "AT LAST! The epiphany of burning love has descended upon your awareness, my students!"

"Gai-sensei!" cried Tenten when the janitor disappeared in a puff of smoke and was replaced by their ecstatic sensei.

_I knew there was something unusual about the way the janitor talked, _thought Neji dryly.

Tears streamed down their teacher's cheeks. "I knew this was bound to happen! All the signs… all the little clues that fate has etched…" He took Tenten's hands. "Dance, my little wild flower! Rejoice! Your gardener has come!"

She narrowed her eyes. "You know, Gai-sensei, I should talk to you about the love letter. First of all, my ears do _not _look like tulips."

"I acknowledge my mistake, cherished student of mine. They look more like… dolphins…"  
"DOLPHINS?"

Neji watched silently, a relaxed smile creeping on his face.

………………………………………..

Once upon a time, a certain songwriter once said that when a person reaches the age of seventeen, one becomes susceptible to the irregularities of the mind, the irrationalities of the heart, and the immaturity of the convictions. In short, the person becomes a _teenager_.

In fact, even the two of the biggest prides among the ranks in the Leaf Village are not exempted from the gospel truth of the song.

And their story is left off with the arrival of a nervous-looking woman checking both sides of the hallway before inserting a pink envelope into a locker.

The woman smiled, relieved, when the letter slipped easily into the cubbyhole. She turned around to go back, only to come face to face with the most renowned weapons expert of Konoha.

Tenten looked at her with an amused smile on her somewhat grubby face, fresh from training. And then she raised her hands and saluted.

"Excuse me, mailman on duty," she said, walking over to Neji's locker and dialing his memorized-by-heart combination. Out tumbled several more folded stationeries and little envelopes, earning a gasp from the woman behind her.

The kunoichi glanced at the woman briefly, giving her a friendly smile. It was a silent assurance that it was okay and that she was going to deliver the precious correspondences to the intended receiver.

Suddenly, the woman's eyes widened when from behind, Neji arrived and planted a pink envelope on Tenten's hand.

The weapons mistress herself looked stunned when, before walking away, Neji slowly smiled and said, "New arrival."

Tenten gaped at the envelope that bore her teammate's handwriting, still unable to acknowledge what just transpired. Then little by little, a sunny smile blossomed on her face.

And as the astounded Neji secret admirer watched Tenten run after Neji with the envelope in hand, she unknowingly added herself to the growing statistics of people silently understanding what the heck the relationship was between the Hyuuga genius and the lady weapons expert.

……………………………………………………………………

**THE END**

**: _Post Note _:**

_Hey, I actually ended something that's multi-chapter in content! Wahahaha!_


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